The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-10-26
The States Industrial Colleges.

We have never thought that feeling
If hostility or prejudice could be arous-
ID against the girls college at Columbus,
'r the boys college at Starkville, that
would result in depriving either of ne
cessary appropriations, though persistent
and determined efforts have been
made in some quarters to accomplish
that object.
The letter OF Senator George to Mr..
Heggie, in which be discusses the merits
of these institutions and what they are
doing for the State, is an argument in
favor of them which will not soon be
answered. About the legal relations and
obligations of the State to the Univer- |
sity, there is room for much disputa- |
ton, as there always is when eminent
lawyers differ. But the State owes
nothing to the Industrial Colleg es, ex-
cept what wisdom and prudence shall
prompt it to bestow, and the question:
the only question,-about which there
should be any difference of opinion in
regard to them, is one of policy.
If such colleges have been tried sue
cessfully elsewhere, if having been tried
here, they have demonstrated their ca
pacity for beneficial service to the State,
they should be maintained, If the State
is financially able to maintain them. In
fact, the only argument ever used against
either institution, that is entitled to re-
spectful consideration, is that based on
the States inability 70 keep them up.
That they have been useful, we believe,
is conceded by all-even those who in
sist that the State has not received, and
| will not receive, full value for its outlay.
On this point the letter of Senator
George is as forcible as any document
can be made by facts and statistics, and
we call special attention to the showing
that person paying taxes on $1,000 Of
realty assessed sometimes at half or one
third its value) may own in addition
81 ,355 of personality, and pay only forty
cents taxes for the support of the indus
trial colleges! Surely there is not an
intelligent taxpayer in the State who is
unwilling to contribute this small
amount that our poor boys and girls
may learn something else than reading,
writing and arithmetic.
1t has been suggested that II would be
more in keeping with the purposes Of
these colleges to give scholarships tC
those found meritorious by the test of {
competitive examination. Senator
George says, in his letter, that the trus
, tees of the A. g. NJ. College have recon-
, mende1 ''the education of one poo
farmer boy from each county in tn,
State, by an appropriation, eithe
from the State or county treas
, ury, of one hundred dollars" anC
= that he favors the recommendation OF
the following conditions: Let eacl
boy be taken from the field, anC
of condition, financially, which rem
ders it impossible for him otherwise tt
go to the College. Let him be selected
by officials acting under oath to do i'm
partial justice, and let there be no othel
test of merit, beyond good character, bu
superior mental strength, whether h'
has ever been to school or not. In thi!
way we would meet thel objection tina
the poor cannot go, and we would dc
even better-we would givea fair chance
to the children of poor families to get 8
start in the world" If superior men
tai strength" ought to gain a scholarship
for those to be paid hundred dollars &
year, why ought it not to prevail in the
case of those who only seek free tuition
Seeing that the industrial colleges are
becoming more popular each year, some
scheme must be adopted to give each
applicant for scholarship an equal
chance with all other applicants. But
this is one Ct those matters to be dealt
with by the Legislature in the interest
of the permanency of the colleges, and
not to be suggested or urged as reason
for their discontinuance or for niggardly
treatment of them.
As for the girls college, there is
enough oldtime chivalry in the State to
protect it. A college for girls, establish
ed by the State under the influences
that established that at Columbus, if
only doing half as well, would be entire
ly safe from the destroying hand of the
men of Mississippi. The letter of "Sim-
plicia,' to which Senator George refers,
contains all that is necessary to be said
for the girls college, and the response
which the representatives OF the man
hold of Mississippi will make, will set
at rest whatever anxious doubts she
may have had.